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110 FROM THE ARCHIVES
years earlier the French court
celebrated a big, two day carousel
with 500 horses participating, and
the theme was the five continents. But
the 1667 horse ballet at the Austrian
court was not only bigger and more
expensive, it celebrated the Emperor
as the Master of the Elements. While
the French Sun King was depicted as
the Master of the Earth and its nations
-
the Emperor was celebrated as the
Master of the Elements themselves!
Thus all these festivities were not
only a display of joy but also had some
political implications, such as to show
their court was especially mighty, that
it was the leading court and so on and
so forth.
Those organizing a successful horse
ballet at the Austrian court were at
an advantage since they had good
connections to the court of the Medici.
Famous artists of the ‘festa a cavallo’
in Italy were called to the Austrian
court to help plan the big event.
With this ballet on horseback also
began an era when an orchestra would
provide the music. Earlier, only plain
open air instruments like drums and
trumpets were used. In Vienna, they
added clarinets and violins and this
signalled a new form of presenting
riding art. Now, instead of just a parade,
real dances were adopted, and so they
had a real dance form with the horses.
But this extravaganza in Vienna
also heralded that the era of the horse
ballet was coming to an end since
it became very difficult for other
courts to outdo it. Consequently, after
1667 only very few horse ballets are
mentioned. Instead, the era of the
carousels returned, and it came into
full bloom during the 18th and 19th
centuries. The carousels were now
not limited to those performed on
horseback, but also included those
with coaches and sleighs.
Much of the information we have
about them comes from the Spanish
Court Riding School in Vienna, thus
they must have been mostly indoor
events musically accompanied by an
orchestra. At the end of the carousels,
the participants would join together
to perform a dance-like quadrille.